the sun and the moon
by Bowtie
Summary: Anthology. 06. It's the day of their wedding, but surprisingly, Akari is not bursting with butterflies.. -RyuseiAkari.
1. prettier than you

**Title: **prettier than you**  
Prompt:** 017. dance

This is a RyuseiAkari anthology. Mostly drabbles/ficlits, and some longer ones. This one is Post-Manga.

* * *

"Akari?"

Ryusei's voice echoed through their home, his eyebrows furrowing at the quiet halls. A pause – then, "Akari?!"

When no reply came, he ran through their home, in search for his wife. He paused when he reached the other end of the house, in front of their bedroom. "...Akari?"

A muffled giggle reached his ears as an auburn head popped through the open crack. "Ryusei!"

He relaxed upon seeing her giggling face, but the anger resurfaced just as quick. "Why didn't you answer when I called your name?! What are you doing?!"

She cringed slightly, and his face softened immediately. He hadn't meant to yell at her. "I was just watching the tapes Naoki len-" He glared at hearing _that_ name, "-t me."

"What tapes?"

"These!" she giggled again, and shoved a tape in his face. On the cover, was him. As a woman, in a past kabuki dance. "You're so pretty, Ryusei! It's not fair."

His eyebrows twitched as she skipped back to the bed, content on finishing the tape. "Watch it with me?"

He said nothing, but moved to sit beside her nevertheless.

Whatever made her happy.


	2. normality

**Title: **normality  
**Prompt:** 046. care

_A/N:_ Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm glad you all liked the first one; I hope you enjoy this one just as much! I'm also starting a WIP, featuring these two lovers. So look out for that! _reviews are always appreciated ; they fuel my passion for writing._

* * *

From your peripheral, you eye your over-excited auburn haired fiancée. She is currently crushed snugly to your side, your right arm keeping her firmly in place. It is to make sure she doesn't get lost in the crowd, you monotone to yourself half-heartedly, your male pride kicking in.

She is currently pointing and 'oohing' at the cute roadside stands, her almond eyes widening and brightening with every new discovery. Your free arm flies up in a vain attempt to cover the impish grin that is fighting its way onto your face. It is too late, because Akari is beaming up at you impishly now, too.

"Ryusei! Thank you so much for taking me today!" The smile on her face is worth more to you than a million dollars, but you look away, embarrassed. You grunt a response, but she is satisfied – she is already off, 'oohing' and 'ahhing' at the trinkets at the next stand.

You know that although she has accepted the situation and knows that normality will never be the norm for the two of you, she still secretly longs for it. So you make it a point to put some normality in your lives – it's no big deal for you, but you know it means the world to her. As the stall owner laughs along with her, you feel a familiar gush of warmth spread through you. Before Akari, kabuki and Mr. Ken were your only sources of happiness and contentment. But now, you find that even little moments like these – watching her laugh and enjoying her life, taking a walk with her under the stars – can make you happier than the success of a highly stressed and anticipated kabuki show.

In three brisk steps, you are beside her. You can tell she really adores the little trinket she clutches in her right hand, but she always hates being a burden and asking for things. You don't say anything, but you offer her a small smile and whip out your wallet. The owner gasps. "Hey – you're Mr. Shoen!"

You curse silently, jamming the baseball cap lower onto your head. Thankfully, the owner didn't scream it, and you have yet to be discovered by other people. "Yes, that's him!" Akari chimes in before the rude comeback comes out of your mouth.

"Ah – and you're Akari!" She nods back at this, and you whip out some bills to the owner. He insists that you don't pay – but you insist that he keep the change in exchange for keeping quiet. The old man only smiles back and nods, giving you a wave goodbye.

You are a little miffed that your day of 'normality' was ruined by such an encounter, but Akari is still beaming. You feel yourself relax a little, and then a lot.

You realize that normality is not about not being recognized as a celebrity, but rather about spending time and loving each other.

And you know it'll be okay.


	3. mood swings

**Title: **mood swings**  
Prompt:** 008. kiss

_

* * *

_

"Ryusei!" she shrieked, and three doors away in their bedroom, the man cringed. "Where the hell are you? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MUFFIN?"

"Akari-"

"You promised! I want my muffin!" she whined, and perhaps it was the distortion of the sound through the walls, but to Ryusei, she sounded suspiciously close to crying. He sighed, running a hand through his dishevelled hair.

"I'm coming."

"NO!" she yelled back, and promptly slammed the door. "I don't want you to come anymore! You lied to me. YOU LIED."

"Akari-"

"WHY, RYUSEI?" she yelled again, but this time sounding suspiciously like a sob. Ryusei took a few tentative steps towards the door, but hesitated when the sounds of her sobs grew to ridiculous decibel levels. This could _not_ be healthy for her, or their baby.

"I'm coming in, Akari," he coaxed, his voice soft. She'd been like this for the past two days, and had hardly eaten anything at all. He hated seeing her in any type of pain, and he could only imagine what she was going through right now.

"NO!" she sobbed, and he could hear her fumbling with the lock. "Why won't you listen to me? I don't want you!"

She seemed to forget that the lock had broken weeks ago, and that it was a lost cause. He didn't say a word though, because he knew he would only get an earful in reply. He suppressed the urge to sigh. The prenatal class teacher had said that this would only last for a bit. He'd put up with it with no complaints. For her. This was all for Akari. Akari, Akari, Akari. She was his life. She carried his blood in him, he loved her.

He loved-

Slowly, the door swung open in front of him. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't even hear his pregnant wife shuffle to the queen-sized guest bed that she had taken over. Gently, he nudged the already ajar door open further, and peeked his head through.

The smile that was prompted by the scene before him was hidden just in time as Akari shifted her head up to greet him, her cheeks adorably red. She was sprawled ungracefully on her back, half sitting half lying down on the bed, supported by a mountain of pillows. She was beautiful, even with tearstained cheeks and a huge stomach.

He never really understood before what people meant when they said that pregnant women 'glowed'. But seeing his petit wife with that precise 'glow', he knew nothing could ever compare to her. Not now, not ever.

"Ryusei..." she whispered. He prepared himself for another outburst, but worked slowly towards her nonetheless. "I'm sorry."

_What_?

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, her moment of sanity completely deserting her. "I'm sorry I'm such a bitch these days! I'm so sorry Ryusei. Do you not want me now? I'd understa- I'm sorry!"

She babbled on, completely oblivious of her husband's movement. She seemed lost in her own world, apologizing repetitively and unnecessarily, in his opinion. It was only when the bed shifted with his added weight and she was displaced, did she stop apologizing.

Shining auburn orbs glanced up at him curiously. "Ryusei...?"

"Don't be such an idiot."

Her mouth dropped at his blunt statement. Of course, she was used to his straightforward way of speech, but in her current frame of mind, it did _not_ cope well. "WHAT! Excu-"

"Of course I want you," he continued, effectively cutting her off. "Didn't I tell you before? You're the only one for me. Forever."

He gathered the flustered woman in his arms as best as he could, and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead, trailing the kisses down to her lips. "You're _mine_," he practically growled, and in a softer, almost whisper-like voice, added a short and sweet _I love you_.

His rather uncharacteristic behaviour set her own uncharacteristic behaviour back in check. _What did he say?_

Her mind was too preoccupied trying to digest the fact that Ryusei had said such a sweet thing to turn her into a bipolar pregnant woman. So in true Akari fashion, she blushed under his gaze and hold, and leaned into him comfortably, mood swings forgotten.

It might have been a miracle, or simply their magical dynamic. But with Ryusei by her side, all the problems just melted away, every time. Even in the face of Mother Nature's cruel side effects of such a beautiful phenomenon, he was there for her.

She smiled despite herself, and let her eyelids flutter close. She was sure the mood swings would be back in full swing in a few hours, but for now...

Everything was perfect.

* * *

_A/N: _Thanks so much for the reviews! Really. I thank those people that took their time to leave a thoughtful review, telling me what I can improve on. I just realized I haven't updated in forever, and honestly, this ficlet above is just...I don't know. I really don't know what I was thinking. It's crazy. They're really out of character, I think, but consider the situation, and I think it's acceptable. Forgive me for this shit that I'm trying to pass off as writing.

*Exams are done in 2 weeks. A better one will be up shortly after school is finished, I promise.

Lastlyy, please review if you liked it, and review if you didn't like it (tell me why! constructive criticism is always welcome), and review if you were just indifferent. Reviews really mean a lot, and it's really not hard to just click that little button!

Hearts&kisses,  
Bowtie.


	4. a little dose of serendipity

**Title: **a little dose of serendipity  
**Word Count: **1125  
**Prompts:** 09. Smile & 388 (185). Seek and find

_a/n: This one is Past-AU._

* * *

Looking up at the array of legs and feet and shoes, the six year old suddenly felt awfully scared. She had never been to this place before, and though she had been the one to nag mother consistently for the past month, she realized now that this was entirely too much. Her friend had said that the Mall was a really exciting place with many, many stores, and a lot of exciting things. Akari agreed, looking up and around at the plethora of displays and more importantly, _people_ in the area.

It was concerning to the little girl that she no longer had sight of her mother. Somewhere between the Sweet Shoppe and the restaurant, her mother had gotten mixed up with the other hundred people surrounding Akari. Distracted by all the pretty sights, the poor girl didn't notice until it was too late, and her mother was nowhere to be seen. At first, Akari had not been concerned. _Mother will find me_, she thought. But five, then ten minutes had passed, and still, mother had not shown up.

Akari blinked her round eyes rapidly, trying to pick her mother's light brown cardigan out from the crowd. Unfortunately, brown seemed to be a rather popular colour, and from her limited viewpoint, Akari could see nothing useful. Frowning, the girl looked around her for some sort of leverage point. When her eyes caught sight of the huge fountain some distance away, they lit up like Christmas day. There were a lot of people sitting and lounging around the edge – therefore it wouldn't be _too_ bad if she stood and looked. With that thought in mind, little Akari bounded over to the fountain.

When she reached the thing, she realized the ledge was a little taller than she had expected. But it was no worry for the little girl – she was an expert at climbing. She often climbed the tree outside their complex with the neighborhood kids, and she always beat the boys. Sticking out her tongue in concentration, she reached her hands up, and began to prop herself up onto the outer ledge. After a slight struggle, Akari triumphantly reached the top of the ledge. She realized that some of the adults around the fountain were giving her disapproving stares, but she ignored them. Adults always did that, stare disapprovingly, yell, and stare some more.

Teetering slightly at the top – the ledge was slightly rounded – Akari craned her neck, hoping to catch sight of mother. Again, she was disheartened to find that there was indeed very many brown shirts in the sea of people. Light brown, dark brown, weird brown, yellow brown – Akari had never seen so many shades of the colour.

The six year old sighed, and was about to give up when she thought she saw her mother from her peripheral. Whipping her head around quickly to get a better look, Akari almost gasped out in excitement she saw that it was indeed mother. She waved her little arms in the air, beaming when her mother finally spotted her as well. Mother gave Akari the universal signal to wait, and Akari nodded eagerly. This was enough adventure for one day; she was tired, and wanted to go home to take a nap before dinner. She had nodded so vigorously that she nearly lost her balance. That wasn't of concern to the petite girl though; she simply stepped her left foot out to the side to steady herself. This happened a lot, losing her balance. Her friends always told her she was rather clumsy.

Unfortunately, in her excitement, the fact that the ledge was rounded slipped Akari's young mind.

The foot that was supposed to steady her slipped on the rounded edge, and before she could really process what was really happening, Akari was falling. She was so surprised that she didn't even scream; only a little squeak and gasp escaped her as she pitched forward. She did however, have enough time to squeeze her eyes shut.

The impact never came though, as she heard a slight _oof_ and felt something squishy under her.

Akari knew she had probably landed on a person, and knew that someone was probably going to start yelling at her soon. Despite this, she decided to take a peek at her current cushion. Cracking open one eye in what she thought was a discreet manner, she studied the person under her. Akari didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified to find that the person looked to be around her age. On one hand, he probably wouldn't yell at her. On the other, he might start to cry or hit her if she had hurt him.

Suddenly a little embarrassed, Akari climbed off the boy's body. When she caught sight of his facial expression, she winced, guessing that he would probably be the latter type and hit her, as his glare held venom she didn't think was possible for a six-seven year old.

"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked. "I didn't mean to squish you."

The boy picked himself up slowly, rubbing his arm. "It's ok."

Akari peered up at him skeptically; his expression definitely said it was _not_ okay, but she shrugged. "Are you hurt? I'm really sorry."

He sighed. Akari wondered briefly what kind of seven year old sighed and frowned as much as the boy in front of her did. "I'm fine," he repeated his assurance.

Akari gasped when she saw a black thing on his arm. "Did I give you that bruise?"

Without thinking, she surged forward to inspect said bruise. When she touched it, the boy winced slightly, and she stumbled out another apology. _That must hurt, _she thought.

"I'm _fine_," he bit out, snatching his arm back. This time, Akari didn't wince at his unfriendly tone. Instead, she beamed up brilliantly at the boy, and thanked him for cushioning her fall. The boy seemed rather taken aback by her unusual reaction, but before he could say anything, mother emerged from the crowd.

"Akari!" she croaked, gathering the small girl up in her arms. "Oh thank god I found you. Where did you go? I saw you fall! Did you get hurt? Oh dear, don't ever separate yourself from me in a busy place like this again, you know it's dangerous…"

Akari tuned out the rest of mother's rant as the older woman dragged her away from the fountain, towards what she presumed to be the exit. As they walked away, Akari turned her head back to peer at the nice boy that had saved her. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, and before he could look away defiantly, she smiled again and mouthed thank you.

Back at the fountain, seven year old Ryusei blushed.


	5. of heartache

**Title:** of heartache**  
****Prompts:** 18. alone in a crowd & 27. hurt

_a/n: this one falls into canon timeline._

* * *

Akari watched in silence as the girls around her gasped and giggled over the ads that covered the streets, all starring the same man. There were so many that Akari had stopped trying to count. There was the biggest one, exploiting his kabuki-honed body, clad in only a pair of jeans, his face as charming as ever. There was another, and another, some of only Ryusei's face, and some of his whole body, and others with just various parts of his body.

On the crowded street, Ryusei was _everywhere_. Above, below, around; there was no safe haven for Akari to avert her eyes to.

Next to her, a girl her own age cooed as another picture of flickered on, showcasing his long, impossibly long legs.

How long had it been? A week? Probably. Akari had refused to count, adamant in her belief that counting would make the days seem like years. Regardless of that fact, the week had still felt like a year, and she could barely dull the ache in her heart. She remembered the list that Toshiya had given to Ryusei, so packed full that it had made Akari's head spin. But Ryusei had been determined to do anything he could to establish his own credibility, and now, all around her, was the product of his hard work and determination.

How was it that for every ad that caught her eye, the yearning inside her for Ryusei grew? She _was_ looking at him, after all. Shouldn't that count for _something_? When another advertisement flew across the screen before her, she was forced to answer her own question dejectedly. No amount of pictures could fill the need she had for Ryusei. Without seeing him, talking to him, leaning on him, just _being_ with him, a part of her was missing. That part of her, she knew, Ryusei kept closely guarded to him, and it was only with him that she could ever truly feel whole again.

With a sigh, she quickened her step, determined to get out of the city center, thinking only of the next time that she would be able to see him again.


	6. of flowing, white silk

**Title:** of white, flowing silk  
**Word Count:** 756  
**Prompts:** 364. bless the union & 013. celebrate

* * *

Akari stared at the overwhelming abundant amount of white silk laid out before her. Even without touching, her breath caught in her throat. _How on earth would she be able to do this? _The last time she'd tried, it had been nothing less of a spectacle. That time, her mother had even helped, and still, the obi had ended up being tied backwards. Ryusei had not looked overly impressed, but then again, Ryusei never looked particularly impressed with anything.

Hesitantly, Akari reached out a tentative hand towards the flowing fabric of the uchikake kimono. The patterns and amount of detail on the expensive garment made her head swirl. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen, so beautiful that Akari didn't even want to think about how much it had cost Ryusei.

In her amazed trance, she failed to hear the heavy footfalls that had rounded the corner, into the dressing room. Thinking that her mother had finally arrived, Akari swirled around anxiously, only to be stricken back by a surprising sight. The old woman that was definitely _not_ her mother breathed in sharply, before barking, "What do you think you're doing? Don't touch it!"

Akari jumped away from her position and landed quite painfully with her left hip meeting the sharp corner of the dressing table without mercy. The elderly woman that greeted her had such a deep scowl etched on her wrinkled face, it seemed as if it were her permanent expression. When Akari only stared at her meekly, she sighed again. "Well? Why are you just gawking at me? Strip!"

_Oh. A dresser_, Akari thought as she obeyed the woman's orders. _Of course Ryusei would hire a dresser. _The garment was entirely too beautiful for Akari's clumsy self to ruin. In her haste, her fingers slipped as they fumbled with the buttons of her cardigan. With another heavy sigh, the woman traversed over and removed Akari's clothing swiftly and promptly. By now, Akari was sure that her face was a gorgeous shade of tomato red.

"Breathe, girl, breathe, I'm not going to eat you."

It was only then that Akari noticed the breath she'd been holding, and again did as she was told. "Sorry," she mumbled.

This, at least, seemed to appease the woman's hostility for the moment. Akari saw a change in her face as the woman reached out for the garment, letting the silk fall delicately through her fingers. It was the type of passion Akari often saw in Ryusei when she danced, and suddenly, she wasn't so afraid of the old woman. She was apparently all business, though, because after the moment had passed, the dresser turned and started barking orders at Akari. Turn around, raise your arms, bend your knee, hold your hair up… Akari soon lost track of the commands sent her way, but she followed each to the best of her ability.

If there was any day to screw something up, today was _so_ not the day.

* * *

Three hours later, Akari's heart was beating so fast she was sure it would burst.

From behind her, she could sense the nervousness emanating from her parents. From _diagonally_ behind her, she could sense the tenseness and not-yet-approval from her future father-in-law. _Oh my god_, she thought. _It's finally happening._

The Shinto priest cleared his throat as he began his required role. Under her million layers, Akari was sure she was shaking from the nerves, but she couldn't really be sure. For god's sake, she couldn't even _see_ Ryusei. The traditional ceremony had them facing forward towards the priest. For a moment, Akari resented the decision to hold a traditional wedding. At least in a westernized ceremony, she would be facing Ryusei at the most critical moment of her life.

Just as these thoughts passed through her mind, she heard Ryusei's voice. His whisper was so quiet that Akari didn't hear the content at first. She shifted slightly, favouring his side.

Then, "You are so beautiful," he paused in his whispers as the priest took a short pause. When the old man continued again, his voice booming, Ryusei continued, even softer than before. "I love you." His declaration was murmured so quietly Akari was nearly sure she'd heard wrong, but those syllables were so precious and dear to her that they _had_ to have been right.

Suddenly, the little trivial things didn't seem to matter so much anymore. All that mattered was _them_ and this moment, and all the million moments that would follow this one.

* * *

_note: uchikake kimono is a traditional wedding kimono, usually tremendously elaborate._


End file.
